Automatic watering for orchids?
 

Has anyone had success with any sort of automatic watering system, either DIY or commercial?

I have a pretty good good collection of 20+ orchids, mostly phals but a few oncidiums, dendros, epis, etc. I'm going to be leaving for 3 weeks for work at the end of July, which also happens to be the midst of the brutal SoCal summer. I live alone and it may be difficult to convince a friend who lives nearby to stop by every few days and take an hour plus to water them with the same care I would.

I use drip irrigation on a timer for my outdoor garden plants. Is there anything similar that I can rig up either outdoors or in my bathtub?

What medium are they in?

I've left plants unintentionally for 3.5 & 6 weeks and they all survived, granted I'm not in SoCal. Does your house/apartment get pretty hot inside? Do you have A/C? I believe the reason mine survived is because they were in moss, which tends to hold more moisture longer, especially if it's kind of packed. But not all of them were in moss, and while they did suffer some (especially their blooms) they still survived.

My point? I think if you what RIGHT BEFORE you put some moss say even just along the top and water right before you leave you could get away with say having a friend come by once a week, assuming you leave them inside. And don't have them stay super sunny, move them to the coolest part of your house. I would think from my limited, but valuable (to me at least) experience that your plants could survive being watered once a week while you're gone, heck probably even a week and a half.

I'm not super experienced, I'm still really just learning, but I've already picked up some experience with a number of plants that has shown me they are much less sensitive than people think. Of course that's speaking in general as their are plants that are quite sensitive, I know neither of my Tolumnias would have survived the 3 weeks I left them.

So even then, if you could schedule drip irrigation once a week you wouldn't have to be as sensitive with the amount it puts out. My last thought - for now - is that you probably shouldn't try to have someone water "like you do" while you're gone because you may be more like to overwater, versus just getting someone there to water even a couple of times while gone. Even if you do have more water demanding plants perhaps those, if there are just a few, could be stay with someone in your local orchid club???

Mostly bark. The problem with my area is not so much the heat (although 90-100 degree days isn't great) but the dryness. Currently, they can pull through with watering once a week, although I usually try to water every 3 days or so.

Good idea with the moss. I'm thinking moss and keeping them in the bathtub can preserve the moisture that maybe I can have someone come by once a week or so.

That sounds like a good idea, to me at least. I'm sure in the wild they sometimes have to suffer drought for a bit. Plus keeping them in the tub would make watering easier on whoever is willing to do so for you even once a week or so.

What automatic system do you use and how would u use for the tub?

Put them in a protected area outside and have a friend stop by every few days to hit them w/the hose. The hose watering won't take but a few minutes for 20 orchids and the time outside (not in direct sun, of course) will do them all some good.

If you aren't leaving for a little time yet...put them outside and monitor how long it takes for them to dry out. This will give you a base time line for the friend to water.

There may be hose end water timers with days of the week, odd/even day watering that you can attach to a hose attached to your shower (remove the shower head and there is a threaded rod.) Just put a sprinkler on the terminal end, gather your plnts around it, and once a week watering can happen. Water in the crowns of phals does not happen if you tip them on their sides. Put everything on a rack. Actually it might be better to simply unpot them all, lay them on racks bare root and water once a day.

Remember that orchids were packed in boxes and shipped over sea in slow freghters for quite a while.



Just a crazy idea...

There is no need to unpot any of those orchids. My orchids are outside all summer and they get watered (hose and/or rain) via overhead watering and they are all fine.

Personally, I would rather have a friend stop by because mechanical things sometimes malfunction. With that said, if a timer is the easier thing to do then simply set it to water in the am and w/your hot and dry clime any water will evaporate long before it could ever cause a problems.

So would I, Katrina, but in the instance that you could not find reliable friends who would do such. There are also paid services. Bonded pet walkers also often look in on leafy green pets.

Why not load them up and take them to the friend's house? I know 20 sounds like a lot, but not so bad really. Get several boxes, or I use cheap kitty litter trays which can hold 8 or 10 each if not huge plants. Then the friend can water them at a sink and put them back there. They may not get optimal light for the 3 weeks, but will be watered and the friend can keep a better eye on them and not have to remember to drop by every few days.